People in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and 15 other states found themselves temporarily unable to use their food stamp debit-style cards on Saturday, after a routine test of backup systems by vendor Xerox Corp. resulted in a system failure.

Come Nov. 1, the average family of four in New Jersey and across the country that receive food stamps will bring in about $36 less in monthly benefits as the temporary increase to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) runs out.

Nearly one million New Jerseyans will see a cut in their federal food assistance benefits this fall, when a temporary boost to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) expires on October 31.